Makoto Fujimura – författare

From a widely celebrated artist, this dazzling book takes readers on a profound journey into the heart of creativity  When Makoto Fujimura painted as a child, he felt a mysterious electrical charge pass through him. Over decades of art making, writing, and reflecting in his studio, he has come to understand this charge as his Creator—a source he connects with most profoundly when making art. To be human is to be creative, Fujimura believes, and art making is a discipline of awareness, prayer, and praise by which we journey back to our original light.  In this book, Fujimura takes readers along on his meandering journey as an artist. We witness him making his “process-driven slow art”—using pulverized minerals, gold, or pigments made from oyster shell—as he considers the plants and wildlife on the land where he lives. He draws on Japanese aesthetics, modernist art, Christian theology, sado (art of tea), literature, ecology, and personal narrative, with inspiration ranging from William Blake’s poetry to the art of Mark Rothko and Josef Albers, and from the wisdom of Scripture and Japanese tea master Sen no Rikyū to the traditional Japanese painting technique called Nihonga.  Bringing together the author’s written reflections and his paintings, drawings, and photographs, Art Is invites us to see the world in prismatic and diverse lights, helping us navigate the fractured, divisive times we live in.

From a world-renowned painter, an exploration of creativity’s quintessential—and often overlooked—role in the spiritual life  “Makoto Fujimura’s art and writings have been a true inspiration to me. In this luminous book, he addresses the question of art and faith and their reconciliation with a quiet and moving eloquence.”—Martin Scorsese  “[An] elegant treatise. . . . Fujimura’s sensitive, evocative theology will appeal to believers interested in the role religion can play in the creation of art.”—Publishers Weekly  Conceived over thirty years of painting and creating in his studio, this book is Makoto Fujimura’s broad and deep exploration of creativity and the spiritual aspects of “making.” What he does in the studio is theological work as much as it is aesthetic work. In between pouring precious, pulverized minerals onto handmade paper to create the prismatic, refractive surfaces of his art, he comes into the quiet space in the studio in a discipline of awareness, waiting, prayer, and praise.  Ranging from the Bible to T. S. Eliot, Mark Rothko, and Japanese Kintsugi technique, he shows how, unless we are making something, we cannot know the depth of God’s being and God’s grace permeating our lives. This poignant and beautiful book offers the perspective of, in Christian Wiman’s words, an “accidental theologian,” one who comes to spiritual questions always through the prism of art.

From a world-renowned painter, an exploration of creativity’s quintessential—and often overlooked—role in the spiritual life  “Makoto Fujimura’s art and writings have been a true inspiration to me. In this luminous book, he addresses the question of art and faith and their reconciliation with a quiet and moving eloquence.”—Martin Scorsese  “[An] elegant treatise. . . . Fujimura’s sensitive, evocative theology will appeal to believers interested in the role religion can play in the creation of art.”—Publishers Weekly  Conceived over thirty years of painting and creating in his studio, this book is Makoto Fujimura’s broad and deep exploration of creativity and the spiritual aspects of “making.” What he does in the studio is theological work as much as it is aesthetic work. In between pouring precious, pulverized minerals onto handmade paper to create the prismatic, refractive surfaces of his art, he comes into the quiet space in the studio in a discipline of awareness, waiting, prayer, and praise.  Ranging from the Bible to T. S. Eliot, Mark Rothko, and Japanese Kintsugi technique, he shows how, unless we are making something, we cannot know the depth of God’s being and God’s grace permeating our lives. This poignant and beautiful book offers the perspective of, in Christian Wiman’s words, an “accidental theologian,” one who comes to spiritual questions always through the prism of art.

What if the pursuit of justice requires more than activism? What if it also demands beauty?In a world marked by division and suffering, we face a critical challenge: how to pursue what is right without burning out or losing compassion along the way.In Beauty and Justice, justice advocate Haejin Shim Fujimura and internationally renowned artist Makoto Fujimura invite you to● discover how to sustain the slow work of justice through gratitude and generosity,● understand why justice without beauty can become harsh and ineffective, and● embrace practices for cultivating a "generative life" of courageous service.Through stories from their global work in the arts, advocacy, and cultural renewal, the authors reveal that beauty isn't a luxury--it's essential to effective, lasting justice work. Beauty has the power to heal, and justice becomes most compelling when it is truly beautiful.This book offers a bold invitation to partner with God in restoring what is broken and building a more beautiful future. It includes a four-color insert of artwork discussed in the book.

Our writers celebrate the work of repair – of objects, relationships, communities, and landscapes – and reckon with its limits.Consumers campaign for a “right to repair” in protest of products’ wasteful “planned obsolescence.” Repair cafés spring up, in which old-timers teach greenhorns to mend clothes and appliances. But much more than our possession stand in need of repair. For some, the Jewish phrase tikkun olam – to repair the world – may have become little more than a secular social justice mandate, not unlike the Christian cliché “God has no hands but ours.” Yet while we wait on God to repair the cosmos, there are indeed countless ways one can participate in this work, whether one is a mother, a handyman, a farmer, an artist, an teacher, or a pastor. The work may not be glamorous, but it calls forth our creativity and holds its own rewards.On this theme:- A handyman settles for humble work and doesn’t wish more for his children.- A mother mends her daughters’ clothes into extravagant works of arts.- A pastor in a declining denomination asks where to start repairing the church.- A farmer says a restored landscape will be more than it was before.- Yazidi, Rohingya, and Uyghur survivors of sexual violence find ways to reclaim their dignity.- Painter Makoto Fujimura says artists don’t fight culture wars, they make culture.- Prisoners and staff say prisons don’t rehabilitate, but education in prison just might.- A schoolteacher says education requires family, school, and community.- A church that prays in the language of Jesus, scattered by war, lives on in new places.Plough Quarterly features stories, ideas, and culture for people eager to apply their faith to the challenges we face. Each issue includes in-depth articles, interviews, poetry, book reviews, and art.